


Nature or Nurture

by Gabberwocky



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Fluff and Angst, Galra!Keith, Hurt/Comfort, Space Family Feels, they are the best
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-07-28 06:33:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7628734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabberwocky/pseuds/Gabberwocky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"His child was a Paladin of Voltron and Thace didn’t know whether to be proud or horrified. After all, he’d left the planet to keep her out of the intergalactic war and his child- that he didn’t even know existed- shows up, paladin of the biggest weapon that could be used in it?"</p>
<p>*Tags may change</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

As soon as the barrier was down, he was off, running past Galra soldiers, knocking them to the ground rather than killing them. It was faster that way, simply knocking them down, as he made his way to the hangar, situated very close to the control room. Thace never thought he’d be so grateful for the ship design.

   “Stop! Traitor!”

   Gunfire rained around him as he ran, though the only thing he could bring himself to regret about his actions were the lives lost because of them. While he did not desire death, he could not deny that he’d rather it was the Galra soldiers than the Paladins of Voltron.

   “No, focus” he muttered to himself as he scrambled into a cargo ship. “Focus on his quintessence”

   It had been that quintessence that he’d sensed during the battle that had led him to betray the Galra empire. The quintessence that felt so familiar, the quintessence that could only be from one source- his own child. His child was a Paladin of Voltron and Thace didn’t know whether to be proud or horrified. After all, he’d left the planet to keep her out of the intergalactic war and his child- that he didn’t even know existed- shows up, paladin of the biggest weapon that could be used in it?

   Thace could feel his thoughts straying to worry. “No, focus. His quintessence, focus.”

   He piloted the cargo ship out of the hangar, avoiding the tractor beam and the gunfire, following the trail of his child’s quintessence.

* * *

 

   Keith could feel his control slipping as he and Red fell out of the wormhole. “Red! Red, come on buddy! Just a little longer so we can-” he was cut off as Red crashed on an unfamiliar planet, throwing Keith against the controls. His head hit the corner of a control panel and Keith slipped to the floor, unconscious.

When he came to, the Paladin was unaware of how much time had passed, just that the world was swimming and there was an intense pain in his left side. Pressing a hand against his ribs, Keith winced as they shifted and ground against each other. “Broken ribs, possible concussion…” he muttered. “And separated from the group… dammit.”

He stood shakily and moved towards the back of Red’s body, where they had placed emergency medical supplies. They were nowhere near as good as what was in the castle, but they’d do in a pinch. Several Ace bandage type wraps and what Keith assumed were really good pain pills later, he walked outside to assess the damage to his lion.

He sucked in a sharp breath upon seeing the large gashes and exposed wires that resulted from both his battle with Zarkon and their crash into the desert planet. “I’m sorry, Red.” he apologized, placing a hand on the nearest gash. “I was stupid.”

The Lion didn’t move, too weak to do so, but a soft growl in Keith’s head let him know that Red didn’t hold it against him and would have stopped him earlier if he saw something very wrong.

Keith chuckled. “I guess we’re both too reckless.” He straightened up. “Let’s get you fixed up.”

Over the several hours, Keith inventoried the contents of the emergency supplies on Red, quickly coming to the conclusion that the only things present were medical supplies and mechanical parts- no food or water. “Well, that means I need to get you fixed up fast, doesn’t it?” he sighed. “And just when I was getting hungry…” he trailed off, getting to work on Red.

That night, he slept in Red’s cockpit, head pillowed on his jacket and shirt, the heat seeping into Red’s metal interior.

He awoke the next morning and began his work on Red, realizing that he only had limited knowledge of the inner workings of the machines he was so proficient in piloting- and even that knowledge was about Earthly ships. He had no idea where to begin in fixing Red, and the lion was in no condition to help him.

“Well, I have to start somewhere…” the red paladin muttered, beginning to sort through the mechanical supplied on board. While he had separated them from the medical supplies, he still hadn’t sorted through those supplies specifically. After those had been categorized to the best of his ability, Keith began to reconnect what he thought were the primary power lines in order to get Red’s power back online and have the lion help guide him through the other repairs.

The low roar that resounded through his head about halfway through the night had Keith sitting up excitedly. “Red? Did I get your power back on?”

Red growled in affirmation and Keith relaxed. “Oh, that’s good. Can you help me through the rest of your repairs tomorrow?”

A flash of acceptance went through the paladin, as well as the feeling of pride that didn’t belong to him. “Thanks, Red.” Keith yawned, chuckling at the concern that spiked through him. “Just tired. Though my head is killing me and it’s getting hard to breathe.”

Red let out another concerned growl at Keith’s words, huffing as the boy shushed her and laid down to sleep. “You can scold me in the morning.”

The days began to blur together: wake up, work on getting Red fixed, change the bandages a few times, go to sleep, all while fighting pain, dehydration, and starvation. Keith went through three cycles of that before his head began to swim even worse than before. Shaking his head, he continued to work before the world shifted and the last thing he was conscious of was Red’s worried growl before the black took over his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

When Keith awoke, it was to the underside of an unfamiliar bunk alight with very familiar purple lighting. 

“Galra!” he exclaimed, sitting up quickly. That fast movement forced him to release a soft whimper of pain as he stood, hand going to the place on his hip his bayard should be. “Dammit, they disarmed me…”

Shakily, he walked through the cargo ship, leaning on walls and too focused on not collapsin to notice the distinct lack of guards or sentries on the ship. A sharp jerk of the spacecraft sent the boy tumbling to the floor with a loud shout of pain, followed by the tramping of boots. 

A Galra soldier turned the corner, arms raised to look as nonthreatening as possible, a concerned, “What are you doing out of bed?” on his tongue even as Keith scrambled backwards on the floor. 

“What do you want from me?!” the wounded paladin demanded. 

“Right now, I want you to relax and get back into bed.” The Galra responded calmly. “My name is Thace, I’m not going to hurt you. I pulled you and your lion off the desert planet, Paladin. I dressed your wounds as well, and you were dangerously dehydrated. You were conscious enough that I could get you some electrolyte water, but I’m not surprised you don’t remember it.”

Keith gave the Galran a strange look. “You… helped me? But… why?” 

Thace leaned down and effortlessly scooped the paladin up, walking back to the bunks and ignoring the questioning. “You need water and food, and then you’ll stay in the bunks until you’re more healed.”

“Wait, what about Red?! How is she?” Keith panicked as he was lifted into the air, wincing as the gentle movement jarred his ribs.

“She is doing much better, though I believe she is worried about you.” Thace responded. “I can’t really tell, she doesn’t talk to me. I don’t think.” The Galran knew that the lions were sentient, but the giant red ship in the hold had been silent and unmoving since he’d brought both it and Keith onboard. “What is your name, Paladin?”

The teen looked up, shocked. “Keith. My name is Keith.”

“Keith. You are strong, Keith. Rest now.” Thace said, testing the name on his tongue- it was different from Galran names- and looking down at the boy with a certain amount of affection in his gaze. 

Keith nodded, eyes drooping closed as they walked, only fluttering open again when Thace shook him awake again. 

“I-i thought we were going back to the bunks?”

“You need to eat first. It’s been two days since I picked you up on that planet.” Thace replied. “And I don’t know how long you were out before I found you.”

“Oh…” Keith’s stomach grumbled. “Yeah, food sounds good right about now.”

Thace nodded, gently setting Keith down at the table and giving him some familiar green food goo. 

“Huh. Guess it’s universal, then.” He remarked, beginning to eat ravenously. 

“Hey, hey, slow down, Keith.” Thace admonished, resting a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “Eat too quickly and it will all come back up.”

Keith nodded, slowing down his shoveling of the food goo into his mouth. 

“H-how did you find me?”

“Your lion. As I understand, once you got its main power back on, it started sending out a distress signal. I followed that.”

“Then… why didn’t she tell me?”

Thace shrugged. “I’m not sure. It could be she wanted to keep you moving; maybe she thought if you knew help could be coming you’d stop and then you’d be in worse shape than when I found you.”

Keith nodded. “I guess. It’s just a little odd, normally she’d tell me. Maybe she was too focused on helping me help her.” He continued eating. “How is she?”

“I’ve been fixing her up. Finish that and then get some rest, I’ll take you to her in a few pumtams.”

“Pumtam?” Keith asked, nonplussed. 

“It’s a measurement of time, 120 ticks.” 

“Oh, ok.” 

Thace nodded and the rest of the meal passed in silence, Keith looking at his plate and Thace looking at the Paladin as if studying him. Because of that, he was able to catch Keith’s head before it dropped into the boy’s plate, chuckling as he scooped the injured boy up again. 

“Sleep well, Keith.” Thace said as he laid Keith down in the same bunk.

* * *

 

Keith awoke again several hours (pumtams, he corrected himself, out here they’re pumtams) later, feeling marginally better. Looking around, he noticed an odd looking pole with a rubber-like stopper on one end and a flat peice on the other. It almost looked like a cane or a crutch, and that’s exactly what Keith used it for, leaning heavily on the pole as he made his way to what he thought was the cockpit of the ship. 

“Um… Thace?” he called to get the Galra’s attention.

Said Galra turned. “Keith! Feeling better?”

“A bit yeah… where’s Red?”

“Ahh, your lion. She’s in the cargo hold. Give me a moment and I’ll show you.”

“Ok…” Keith took the chance to glance around at the Galra tech inside the ship, focusing occasionally on the symbol that was present on the dash. 

“Come on” Thace said, startling Keith out of his thoughts as he nodded and followed. 

“The cargo hold was the only place big enough for her, I’m glad I took a cargo ship instead of an escape pod.” Thace spoke as they walked, trying to keep a conversation going. Keith made no response, just kept moving forward. 

“Red!” He exclaimed happily as he ran forward, nearly falling over himself. “I was worried.” 

Her irritated huff sounded in his head, clearly saying “You were worried? I had you watch you collapse from hunger and dehydration.”

Keith laughed. “I know, I know. But, hey, fast thinking with the distress signal. Thanks.” 

Red made a confused assenting noise through his skull, but Keith was already laying down next to her paw. “I’m glad you’re ok.”

Thace smiled at what he could see of the exchange, watching Keith’s face light up as he and Red reunited. “Keith.” he called. “I’ve been searching for the rest of your team, do you know how to find them?”

Keith looked over. “You won’t be able to find the other Paladins, only Allura can do that. But you may be able to find the Castle-Ship with your long range sensors. Especially with Red.”

Red growled affirmatively in his head, sending him an image of what the castle-ship’s beacon should look like, information that he passed to Thace, who nodded. 

“Thank you. I’ll leave you two to catch up and look for the castle. Please, Keith, don’t sleep down here.”

Keith nodded. “I won’t.” 

“Good.” Thace left the cargo bay and set up his scanners to search for the castle-ship, nodding off as they pinged out for the beacon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith avoids Thace and pines for his new (and currently missing) family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter guys, this one kicked my butt, but I'm back! All settled in so we should be back to our every-friday schedule. (Barring this friday because... this chapter.)

Keith woke up the next day fully appreciating where he was: on a Galra ship. Sure, there was only one Galran on the ship and he seemed like he could be trustworthy, but he was still Galra and there was no reason to trust him.

He ate in the cargo bay with Red that day, leaning against the lion’s metal paw. As he did so, he realized exactly what he’d told Thace the day before- how to find the Castle of Lions and, by extention, Voltron. 

“Dammit, I must have been out of it yesterday.” he muttered, glancing up at Red. 

Red remained silent, simply resting with her paladin. She hoped he’d trust the Galran; she recognized his quintessence as kin just like he’d recognized Keith’s. She knew he was trustworthy, but didn’t know of a way to transfer that knowledge to the teen. 

The injured teen who was now slowly making his way up Red’s leg and to her cockpit. She let a concerned growl resound through his head, to which he responded with a flippant, “I’m fine, Red” even though she knew he wasn’t. She could feel his pain and his confused emotions: concern, guilt, suspicion. She wanted to help him, but wasn’t sure how. 

“Hey, Red, can we reroute any transmissions from the ship to you without Thace knowing?” Keith asked.

Red chuckled at her paladin’s idea and quickly did a scan to see if that would be possible. She sighed once she realized it wasn’t. Her communication systems were not yet fixed and, even if they were, they were not compatible with Galra technology, so it would be obvious if she attempted to hack their communications. She transmitted as much to Keith, who echoed her sigh.

“If he’s working with the empire still… I just endangered everyone by telling him how to find the Castle of Lions. Not just the team… I endangered the whole universe.”

Red immediately sent calming emotions to her paladin, hoping to reassure him that everything was ok, that it wasn’t his fault. She wanted to make sure he felt that he did what was best. 

That was cut short as Thace walked into the cargo bay and Keith ducked below the windshield. 

“Keith?” Thace called, walking around. “Are you in here? I need your help to find the Castle of Lions.”

Red growled in Keith’s head, an unintelligible emotion for the paladin that, for the lion, meant that he should go help.

Keith did not. He stayed under the control panel on Red as Thace left with a sigh. He didn’t leave the cockpit that day.

* * *

 

He did not leave the cockpit much at all while he was on the Galran ship. His only passage of time was his healing wounds and what he remembered of healing times from Earth. 

His concussion healed in what he thought approximated a week. 

During that week, he only left the cockpit when Thace wasn’t around, and then only for food. Once he wasn’t feeling dizzy anymore, he ventured further and further into the ship, always avoiding the loud footsteps of his Galran companion.

He also thought a lot about the other paladins. It was weird, for him. He never thought he’d miss them as much, aside from Shiro. He knew he’d miss his foster brother. 

But he never thought he’d miss Lance, with his dumb jokes and loud laughs. The large Galran ship seemed too quiet without them and Keith found himself making noise in order to combat that. 

Never thought he’d miss Hunk, all hugs and kindness and cuddles- even when Keith didn’t really want them. With Hunk, Keith felt cared for and loved, sometimes even more so than with Shiro.

Or Pidge, all techno speak and robots, falling asleep in strange places. The youngest paladin made him feel like an older brother, a new feeling for him. He loved her, and missed her. 

Coran. Honestly, he thought he’d be glad to be away from the loud, obnoxious Altean, but Coran’s jokes and attempts to understand humans (and Keith, but Keith was always a little odd even by Earth standards) were a nice reprieve from Allura’s constant training.

Allura. The Altean princess was… interesting, to say the least. Her training sessions always pushed Keith to the very edge, but at the same time, she was almost in the same boat as the paladins: suddenly thrust into a position of command she wasn’t necessarily ready for. He missed her strange way of caring for them all. 

Really, he just missed their camaraderie, even if he was on the fringes of it. The residents of the Castle of Lions were the closest thing to family Keith had, and now they were gone and Keith was stuck on a Galra ship not knowing if he’d ever see them again. 

 

He was alone, and it hurt more than the shack because he’d had a taste of family only to have it ripped away. His only thought as breathing became slightly easier (marking what he thought was 3 Earth weeks) was whether or not he’d ever see them again. 

  
That’s when the proximity alarm sounded.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith sat up in Red’s cockpit and quickly ran into the cargo bay, ignoring his suspicion of the Galran in favor of running towards the bridge of the ship. 

“What’s going on?” Keith asked hurriedly. 

“Galra ships approaching.”

Keith immediately closed off and backed up. “You called them?”

Thace shook his head. “No. I didn’t.” he looked over at the Red Paladin. “If I had, would I have allowed the proximity alarms to sound?”

Keith had no answer for that. “Fair enough. Any weapons on this thing?”

“Sadly, no. It’s just a cargo ship. The only weapons are on your lion. Can she fly?” 

Keith nodded. “Yes.”

“Then fly. Get out of here, I’ll try to keep them distracted.”

Keith nodded, but paused as he was leaving. “Thace… what will they do to you?”

Thace smiled. “I’ll be fine, go.”

And so, Keith ran back the way he came, climbing back into Red’s cockpit. He did not, however, abandon Thace. Instead of flying away as he’d been asked to, he attacked the Galra ship that was approaching. 

Thace was immediately on the coms. 

“Keith, what are you doing?” he asked, slightly panicked. 

“Getting both of us out of here. Red’s weapons are up, but she can’t fly very far. Besides, you saved my life. Time to return the favor.”

Keith soared above the Galra ship, hovering for a moment before hitting it with all of the firepower Red had. The ship went down surprisingly easily and Keith returned to the cargo ship, grin on his face. 

“Well done, Keith.” Thace said as Keith stepped out from Red. 

“Thanks. And thanks for, you know, not giving me to the Galrans.” 

Thace smiled. “I wouldn’t. What the Galra Empire is doing is not right. I’ve known that for a long time, I just needed the right push to leave and rebel.”

Keith nodded. “Guess you found it.” He started walking towards the bridge of the cargo ship. “Let’s keep looking for the castle.”

Thace agreed, and they went up together to scan for it. 

“I don’t think I ever asked you but… why did you save me? You were running from the Galra at that point- why stop and save what was basically dead weight at that point?” Keith asked as they sat and waited for the scanner to find something. 

Thace was silent for a time, debating whether or not to tell the teenager the real reason he had rescued him. Eventually, Thace decided upon a half-truth.

“I rescued you for two main reasons. One, because you needed rescuing. You were in need and I could help, so I did. The second reason, I’ll admit, was selfish. I rescued you to prove I could. I’ve been with the Galra Empire most of my life, I wanted to prove to myself I could save a life just as I could take one.”

Keith nodded. “Makes sense, I guess. And thank you. Even if one of your reasons was selfish, the only reason I’m still alive is because of you.”

Thace nodded and the two lapsed into a comfortable silence, Keith eventually falling asleep in his chair. The Galran smiled softly, gazing at the boy with fatherly love and draping an old blanket over him. 

“Just like your mother… she could fall asleep anywhere.” Thace turned back to the display patterns, keeping a lookout for the Castle of Lions’ energy signature.

While the two waited, Thace drifted, lost in a sea of memories, only dragged out of it by the sound of Keith’s stomach rumbling even though the boy was still asleep. 

Gently shaking him awake, Thace went to get food, leaving Keith awake, but groggy on the bridge. When he returned with food, Keith was fiddling with his knife, obviously bored. 

“Here, some food.”

“Thanks.” Keith replied, putting the knife down. 

The two ate in a silence only broken when the dash on the ship lit up and an announcement sounded through the ship. 

“You are being hailed.”

“Accept.” Thace said after getting the sign from Keith that it was the Castle of Lions hailing them. 

Princess Allura’s voice came over the comms. “What are you carrying? Do not lie, Galra, or I will fire.”

“I carry no cargo. I am no longer with the Galra Empire, I seek refuge.” Thace proclaimed. 

A shot was fired close to the hull of the cargo ship. 

“I said do not lie.”

“I have rescued your Red Paladin.” Thace continued frantically.

The next shot actually did hit the ship. 

“Allura!” Keith said over the comms. “I’m fine, he’s not lying!” 

“Keith!” Allura said. “Explain.”

“When I crashed with Red, I was on a desert with no food or water and I was injured. I tried to fix Red, but ended up passing out after a few days. When I woke up, I was on this Galran Cargo ship with Thace, who claimed to have defected. I didn’t believe him at first, but just recently we ran into a Galran battleship and Thace told me to fly away while he distracted them. I believe him, and he saved my life.”

There was silence over the comms system as Allura thought it over. “... Alright, come aboard.”

The hatch on the castle opened and Thace piloted the cargo ship in. 

Allura ran in as they were landing and caught Keith in a hug as he walked off the ship. “We were so worried. And you’re sure you’re alright?”

Keith nodded. “I’m fine, Allura.”

Allura nodded. “Thank you, Thace. For saving him.”

Thace nodded. “You’re welcome.” He looked at Keith. “No one should be without their family.”

Keith threw Thace a strange look at that, but was led off by Allura before he could give it much thought. Not that he really did until later because, after who knows how many weeks, he was home- back in the Castle of Lions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I MISSED LAST WEEK, I'M SORRY BUT I WAS DOING BLUEPULSE WEEK.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my amazing beta @sammy03w


End file.
